KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – More than 20 years ago, 8-year-old Casey Jefferson Coy enrolled in the Garden ’n Grow program in Kirksville at the University of Missouri Extension Center in Adair County. Little did she know that the summer-long program would lead her to decades of employment and enjoyment.
For Casey, the class was also an opportunity to bring her out of her shyness while learning to plant and care for a garden, how to identify insects and plant diseases, when and how to harvest produce to eat, and how to grow flowers.
She loved the twice-weekly class so much that she enrolled four more summers under the direction of MU Extension horticulturist Jennifer Schutter and Kirksville-area Extension Master Gardener volunteers.
Twenty-two years later, after working at various floral shops, she opened Wildflower Grove in nearby Greencastle, Mo., with her friend and former co-worker Alaina Dennis. Both have young children, and the business offers them the opportunity to balance home and work. Their children also participate in the business by working in their gardens, harvesting produce for sale at the store and helping to restock store items.
Greencastle, 18 miles west of Kirksville in Sullivan County, has a population of only 224 residents, so Wildflower Grove provides a multitude of services, including specialty coffees, home-cooked lunches and baked goods, unique crafts and more. They also offer a small room for dining, meetings or as a gathering place where locals can catch up on the latest news while sipping coffee.
Wildflower Grove’s specialty is fresh flower arrangements, but the store also offers seasonal items such as bedding plants, hanging baskets, mums, vegetables and ornamentals such as pumpkins. The store also deliver flowers and plants to nearby towns for a small fee.
“Our mission is to provide quality products and services to Northeast Missouri while working to revive and sustain rural culture and values,” says Casey.
“My years doing Garden ’n Grow built my love and knowledge of plants and flowers to get me where I am today,” she says. “Sharing this passion with my customers and my children is fulfilling,” Casey says. “I often have memories of my days at the MU Extension Center in Kirksville.”
“Casey was one of my first students in Garden ’n Grow,” Schutter says. “It’s such a joy to see her own and operate her own floral and gardening business while serving the Greencastle community and the communities around her with her special talents.”
Schutter says Garden ’n Grow develops a love of gardening in youths and instills a sense of responsibility, pride and accomplishment. “I teach the children not only how to grow a garden but how to prepare it for eating and how to be generous and donate excess produce to those in need,” she says.
“I’m developing gardening skills that the children can use in future gardening endeavors while having fun,” she adds. “We have fun picking produce, exhibiting it at the NEMO District Fair, cooking it, and having an occasional water fight out in the garden.”
About Garden ’n Grow
MU Extension’s Garden ’n Grow program is for 9- to 13-year-olds. Youths learn vegetable gardening and how to “cultivate” other science, math and language arts skills while having fun. Young gardeners also are encouraged to share their harvests with others in need.
Adult volunteers, trained by MU Extension specialists, educate youths about seeds, transplants, garden planning and design, site preparation, soils, plant growth and development, costs of production, garden pests, plant health care, human nutrition, food value, food needs in the local community, and horticultural career opportunities.
Learn more at https://mizzou.us/garden-n-grow.